It seems whole families, often across more than one generation, worked at Fletcher's.
“When I was a kid, we used to live in one of the commission houses behind the factory in Lava St. We used to play near the factory and in the gardens after school and at the weekend. Sometimes there were big heavy trolleys left outside the factory and we used to pull them around and climb aboard and go flying down the Lava St hill! Fletcher turned up in a brand new big black car one day and he let all us kids climb in and have a sit in it. We felt very special. He was such a kind man and good to us kids. He always said to us that there would be a job for us at the factory when we turned 15. And there was. My mum, my sister and I all worked there." Jean Paton
"My dad, Jim Kelly started work at Fletcher's when he was 14 in drycleaning and he worked there for 40 years in different jobs. When he was caretaker, the fire alarms were linked to our house across the road from the factory. And he was a mechanic and driver for a lot of years. My mum also worked at Fletcher's and heaps of cousins and aunties and uncles did too! I started when I was 15 in the press room pressing side seams. I hated it at first. Then I started doing different things like working on the silver ball and eventually I was a driver. I'm called the last man standing 'cause I was the last person working for Fletcher's and then I worked for the Dimmick family up till 2010." Gary Kelly
